From the same director and creative team behind the seminal worldwide classic Ghost in the Shell (1995), Patlabor: The Mobile Police is among the mecha genre’s most grounded, politically-engaged franchises, and with the first theatrical feature, Mamoru Oshii and company craft a deeply compelling, shockingly prescient mystery about the intersection of technology, climate change, and the increasing dislocation of the human body in an age of mechanized labor. At turns funny, exciting, contemplative, and provocative, Patlabor: The Movie puts many core ideas of the mecha genre under the knife, offering an experience that will leave you looking at giant robots in an entirely different light.